Mersey Basin Campaign Blog

Seeing the wood for the trees (and flowers)

Colleagues from BAESystems, United Utilities and South Ribble Borough Council joined members of the Mersey Basin Campaign for the Lancashire Partners' Day on 28 October.  This year the event was held at Cuerden Valley Country Park, where Richard Tenant (one of the Cuerden Valley Trust's rangers) set the group to work on thinning a woodland plantation.  The trees had been planted 15 years ago to help screen the motorway and Richard explained how the trees removed would give more space for valued species such as oak.  The trunks of the felled trees will become logs to be sold in aid of the Trust whilst the smaller branches will be chipped to fuel the boiler of The Barn (Lancashire Wildlife Trust's offices in the park).

In the afternoon a change of task found the group planting snowdrops, bluebells, wood anemones, wild garlic and wood sorrel.  These will grow to increase the biodiversity of the woods as well as providing a colourful carpet of flowers for visitors to enjoy.

If you go down to the woods today..........your feet won't get wet!

Quakers Coppice, a fantastic woodland on the outskirts of Crewe which is much-loved by walkers and wildlife alike, has now been improved thanks to funding from Waste Recycling Group Ltd (distributed by WREN). 

A new 1.5km path takes walkers on a circuit of the woodland which was previously inaccessible to buggies and wheelchairs, and is now an ideal route for workers on the nearby Crewe Business Park, as they will be able to do the walk without getting their shoes muddy!  This is also beneficial to the wildlife, because by encouraging walkers to use one main route, the rest of the Coppice will no longer be trampled and ground-level vegetation will have the chance to grow back - providing food and shelter for all sorts of bugs, birds and small mammals.

As well as the path, we've been able to create a new pond dipping platform, plant a native hedgerow and sow a wildflower meadow.Quakers Coppice can be found here - park on Mallard Way and follow the footpath that starts just after the Fujitsu building. 

Environment 09 - T minus eight days!

Well, it's all go in the office ahead of our uber-conference, Environment 09. The event is taking place at the ACC Liverpool, on the banks of the River Mersey one week tomorrow. In fact, ACC Liverpool was one of the first things I saw this morning on the breakfast news, as they're hosting the TUC this week.

I visited the venue last week, before the TUC security was put in place, and scouted out the space we're planning to use for the exhibition stands - we've got exhibitors ranging from Peel Energy and the NWDA to Liverpool Year of the Environment and On Your Bike. They'll be housed in one of the huge halls (and they are huge) on the first floor, while our own Mersey: The river that changed the world display will be on a mezzanine with a great view out across the river.

I also had a sneaky glimpse into the conference room itself, which also features a fantastic river view. It's all getting pretty exciting now.

The afternoon of the conference features a ferry trip along the Mersey - not to mention the opportunity to be ferried TO the Pier Head on a Merseytravel rickshaw! To get you in the mood for the trip. We might have to post up a little something to get you in the mood for the ferry trip tomorrow...

Okay, conference packs need to go to the printer this afternoon, back soon!

Image tour of the new Museum of Liverpool

I've been following the developments over at the new Museum of Liverpool with great interest over the past couple of years, and they're one of my favourite Twitter-friends too. Yesterday they were tweeting about a great new series of pictures showing the current state of the Museum from the inside - exciting indeed! The museum's going to be a fantastic new attraction on the watefront in Liverpool, especially with a whole gallery (Port City) dedicated to the River Mersey and the city's maritime heritage. Take a look at the tour and see what you think so far - I can't wait to be able to go and visit....

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TOUR

And why not keep up to date with what's happening at the new museum by FOLLOWING THEM ON TWITTER?

Environment 09 - Michael Heseltine & the Mersey Basin Campaign

We're really starting to get into gear for Environment 09 now - the event is fully booked, our special issue of SourceNW magazine is about to go to print, and plans are well underway for the conference exhibition. So, I thought it was time to start getting in the mood for some of the stellar speakers who are lined up to entertain and inform our delegates. We're really lucky that Lord Heseltine, whose brainchild the Campaign was in the first place, is coming up to speak at Environment 09. I met him in 2007 when I interviewed him about his experiences on Merseyside in the 1980s, and the genesis of the Mersey Basin Campaign.

Use the player below to listen to his interview, and find out how he was instrumental in the clean up of the River Mersey...

Environment 09 - fully booked!

Hooray, we're delighted to announce that Environment 09 is now FULLY BOOKED! Hope you managed to secure a place either at the conference, or on the afternoon cruise. Those lucky tykes who did will be treated to a stellar line up, in a fantastic location on Liverpool's waterfront. Our colleagues Katie and Walter have recently been over to visit ACC Liverpool, and we've been busy planning where coffee and lunch will take place, where we'll be able to display our friends' and partners' stands in the exhibition space, and of course, where our own Mersey: The river that changed the world display will fit. I think it's going to be an early start to get everything in place before our lovely delegates arrive, but at least we'll be able to enjoy the sights of the Mersey while we work.

Horseboating on the Rochdale Canal - August 2009

Check out Lucy (from the Waterways Trust)'s video of the horseboat 'Maria' travelling along the Rochdale Canal in Manchester city centre on Friday - Bilbo the horse doing sterling work! Maria and Bilbo and the team from the Horseboating Society also featured on Friday night's Northwest Tonight.....

Environment 09 line-up is confirmed...

Ooooh, this is just like Glastonbury, isn't it?

As we hurtle ever closer to 22nd September, the truly stellar line up of speakers for our final conference, Environment 09, has been confirmed, which is very exciting indeed. Here are the runners and riders...

HILARY BENN, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (live via video-link from London) I've always wanted to say 'live by satellite'!

PROFESSOR SIR DAVID KING, DIRECTOR, THE SMITH SCHOOL FOR ENTERPRISE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

LORD HESELTINE, FORMER ENVIRONMENT MINISTER

BISHOP JAMES JONES OF LIVERPOOL

JIM HANCOCK, BBC (MC-ing the event)

There'll also be an exhibition area, featuring a chance to see our beautiful Mersey: The river that changed the world photographic travelogue once more, AND an optional afternoon cruise on the Mersey with our friends from Mersey Ferries. And it's ALL FREE! What are you still waiting for? Click here to visit the booking page

Vote for Liverpool's International Slavery Museum

The pride of the Albert Dock, Liverpool's new International Slavery Museum has made it through to the finals of the National Lottery Awards. The museum, which opened in 2007, has been nominated in the Best Heritage Project category, where it's up against rival projects from Stourport and South London. The museum needs your help to win the award - please vote online or by phone on 0844 686 6957. Voting is open from 9am on Monday 3rd August until midday on Friday 14th August.

Griff Rhys Jones - Our man in the Mersey

 

Picture by BBC / Modern TV

WATCH RIVERS WITH GRIFF RHYS JONES (NORTH) ON BBC iPLAYER

Sunday night's not usually my favourite TV-viewing time slot. I'm not a huge fan of Songs of Praise and the Antiques Roadshow fills me with an urge to finish my non-existent homework, so I tend to reserve Sunday nights for such joyous tasks as ironing, making packed dinners, and finally getting round to reading the Saturday papers. Last night, though, it was a different matter. I was on the couch ahead of time, bag packed, shirts ironed, and today's butties sitting in the fridge waiting for me to forget them on Monday morning. And what prompted this uncharacteristic display of efficiency? A surprise screening of The Goonies? Repeats of the 2005 Ashes series? No, it was the Northern-based episode of Griff Rhys Jones's epic Rivers series, and for the Mersey Basin Campaign there was lots to get excited about...

Picture by Colin McPherson

Our friend Dave Sandman, United Utilities sewage treatment worker and cross-Mersey swimmer challenged Griff to a swim across the Mersey, which had to be abandoned halfway because of the level of shipping traffic on the river (can't complain at that - and is it just me, or did Griff look slightly relieved to be back in the warm?).

Griff takes the plunge - picture by Paul Cornwell

Dave is quite the media darling these days, but we like to think his big break came when he featured as one of our Mersey People back in 2007/8 - click here to visit the Mersey: the river that changed the world website, and listen to an interview with Dave, and his fellow Mersey People.

Talking of the Mersey People, Griff also helped a Mersey pilot, Geoff Rafferty, bring a huge ACL vessel into the Port of Liverpool. Two of Geoff's colleagues, John Curry and Tony Brand also took part in the Mersey People project -  you can listen to them discussing their work in this interview: Download Tony Brand and John Curry

At the other end of the Mersey, Griff also visited the Manchester Ship Canal, and went underground with Environment Agency staff at Moston Brook. It wasn't the Nine O'Clock News, but it was a great showcase for the Northwest's revitalised, thriving, and COLD rivers!